BEIJING, Sept 22 — If you have an army of fans, with 82 million followers on social media — you might not want to give out your number.

Even if it's fake.

Especially if it's a random choice that may actually belong to someone else.

Chinese singer Zhang Jie did exactly that, resulting in an unsuspecting Shanghai resident hit with a barrage of calls and text messages.

During a concert in Fujian in southeastern China on September 6, the star had jokingly shared his number as a joke, comprising of digits incorporating his date of birth, and teased that he would call them later that night.

The random number unfortunately belonged to a Shanghai resident, who was flooded with calls, prompting them to turn off their phone to stop the incessant ringing, reported Fengmian News.

Zhang's fans defended the singer saying he did not do it on purpose and did not expect the made-up number to be real.

Many however criticised the irresponsible act, stating that his ignorance had caused distress to the unsuspecting victim of his fans.

Beijing Wei Heng Law Firm lawyer Yu Long said fans calling a stranger’s number could infringe on personal privacy which is prohibited by Chinese law which prohibits the violation of privacy through harassment or public exposure.

Despite the act being unintended, he pointed out that it was still negligence on the part of the star and he should have promptly issued a statement to clarify the facts and prevent further infringement of privacy.

Zhang announced three days later that he had reached out to the owner of the number to apologise and urged his fans to stop calling or texting and bothering the owner.

The 41-year-old made his television debut by winning the mainland reality singing competition My Show in 2004 and was later signed by Universal Music China.

In 2018, a real phone number was shown in the mainland television series The Revolution Of Our Love, leading to thousands of calls directed at the owner.

The production company was subsequently ordered to pay compensation of 35,000 yuan (RM20,870).